Fraser Minten left the room on Saturday in a brand-new shirt and a bigger spotlight.
The 22-year-old forward had every reason to be in good spirits after piling up three points - one goal and two assists - in the Boston Bruins’ 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. The shirt was a nod to teammate James Hagens, with Minten wearing a tee that read “Slim Jim Hagens.”
“We always get some funny shirts sent to us,” Minten said with a laugh. “So I thought I’d put this one on.”
Minten’s night was the kind that can change the way people talk about a player, and it pushed his early-season production to five points - two goals and three assists - through six games. He now sits second on the Bruins in scoring, behind only David Pastrnak.
Head coach Marco Sturm said Minten’s growth has shown up in more than just the box score.
“I don’t know where to start. He feels more comfortable; I feel like he has more power in his legs, he skates better.
There’s just a combination, I would say, of everything; I can’t really pick one thing. It’s just overall, he was almost like a baby last year, and now he’s growing into a grown man,” Sturm said of Minten.
“One year - it makes a huge, huge difference. It’s great to see the way he played today; even the last little while here, it’s been great.”
Minten helped put the game away in the third period, adding an assist and a goal as Boston kept rolling on home ice. The Bruins got their start from the first line of Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie, and that group wasted no time setting the pace.
Boston struck first at 12:21 of the opening period when Zacha scored after forcing a turnover at the offensive blue line. Pastrnak collected the loose puck and sent a drop pass to Zacha in the slot, where he snapped a wrist shot past Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar.
“That sets the tone, I really believe, for everyone else. I thought today, everyone had their legs.
We came out with a really good jump,” Sturm said. “Our goal was to come out and really play our game right away; as soon as possible.
And it really helps when the big boys do that too right from the start. Everyone else followed pretty much - it was nice to see.”
For Zacha, it was his first goal of the season. For Pastrnak, it extended a scorching stretch that gave him five points in two games.
In Other News...
Bruins Just Got A Big Blue Line Question On This Road Trip
Charlie McAvoy is poised to rejoin the Bruins for the opening game of their four-game West Coast trip against the San Jose Sharks, giving Boston a familiar anchor back on the blue line at a time when the schedule is about to tighten up. It is the kind of return that can settle a defense group quickly, especially on the road, where matchups and pairings tend to matter even more.
The question now is which defenseman will skate next to him when the Bruins set their lineup for San Jose. Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot and Frederic Brunet are all in the mix, and the choice says plenty about how Boston wants to balance puck movement, size and reliability as the trip begins. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Push Comes With One Offensive Pressure Point
The Bruins are trying to carry some of last seasons late push into a new year, and one of the quieter themes coming out of camp is where the offense has to come from beyond the forward lines. Boston got itself into the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Marco Sturm despite a sluggish start, and the coach has been clear that the next step is building a more dangerous attack from the blue line. It is not just about puck movement or clean exits, but about defensemen making themselves part of the scoring answer more often.
Mason Lohrei has given that idea a timely boost. The young defenseman has come through with important goals in each of the last two games, helping the Bruins in wins and giving Sturm a useful example of the kind of contribution he wants to see more consistently. Whether that becomes a real trend will matter for a Boston team that is still trying to define how much offense it can expect from its back end. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Blue Line Suddenly Has A Tough McAvoy Decision
Charlie McAvoy is back for the Bruins after serving a six-game suspension, and his return comes at the start of a tough California road trip that immediately asks coach Marco Sturm to reshuffle his blue line. The first practice look had Hampus Lindholm beside McAvoy on the top pairing, with Nikita Zadorov and Will Borgen together and rookie Frederic Brunet alongside Mason Lohrei, giving Boston a new defensive alignment to sort through on the fly.
The most notable ripple from that change is the fate of Connor Clifton, who appears headed for a scratch despite leading the Bruins in ice time in the previous game. For a team trying to steady itself on the road, that is a real decision point, because McAvoys return restores a top-end presence while also forcing Boston to decide which defenseman gets squeezed out of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]